British journalist Yvonne Ridley was captured by the Talibans in September 2001. She was working as a reporter for the Sunday Express that time. Just 15 days after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, she entered Afghanistan from Pakistan across the Afghan border secretly, disguised in a traditional Burkha, intending to write a newspaper account of life under Taliban regime. She was seized by th
e Taliban near the city of Jalalabad.
e Taliban near the city of Jalalabad.
As Yvonne explains, "A camera which I had hidden in the folds of my burka slipped out right into the full view of a passing Taliban soldier. He went crazy - cameras were banned under the regime - and pulled me off the donkey and removed the camera." She was detained on suspicion of spying.
For the first six days Yvonne was held in the intelligence headquarters in Jalalabad before being taken to Kabul prison.
When comparing her treatment to female prisoners' held in American custody, such as Dr.Aafia Siddiqui, she said that in Taliban's custody she was given her full privacy as a woman, and was handed the key to the door of her cell to lock from the inside.
When comparing her treatment to female prisoners' held in American custody, such as Dr.Aafia Siddiqui, she said that in Taliban's custody she was given her full privacy as a woman, and was handed the key to the door of her cell to lock from the inside.
She said, "Every morning I woke up, I thought 'is this going to be my last day?'"
She was never physically hurt in any way, the experience was mentally exhausting.
"Although they were very nice, I just thought 'these are the good guys, the bad cops are going to appear at any time now with electrodes and torture instruments, or I'm going to be taken outside and shot."
While being held captive she kept a secret diary using the inside of a box from a toothpaste tube and the inside of a soap wrapper.
Yvonne recorded her thoughts when she was in her cell.
"They tried to break me mentally by asking the same questions time and time again, day after day, sometimes until 9 o'clock at night," she recalls.
"They tried to break me mentally by asking the same questions time and time again, day after day, sometimes until 9 o'clock at night," she recalls.
Ridley was interrogated for 10 days without being allowed a phone call, and missed her daughter Daisy's ninth birthday.
Of the Taleban, Ridley said: "I couldn't support what they did or believed in, but they were demonised beyond recognition, because you can't drop bombs on nice people."
She said : "I was horrible to my captors. I spat at them and was rude and refused to eat. It wasn't until I was freed that I became interested in Islam."
'Flappy knickers' :
Indeed, the Taliban deputy foreign minister was called in when she refused to take her underwear down from the prison washing line, which was in view of soldier's quarters.
"He said, 'Look, if they see those things they will have impure thoughts'."
"Afghanistan was about to be bombed by the richest country in the world and all they were concerned about was my big, flappy, black knickers.
"I realized the US doesn't have to bomb the Taliban - just fly in a regiment of women waving their underwear and they will all run off."
Finally she was released on a promise to read the Quran after she returns to UK.
Once she was back in the UK, Ridley turned to the Quran as part of her attempt to understand her experience.
She said, "I was absolutely blown away by what I was reading - not one dot or squiggle had been changed in 1,400 years. It was an absolutely breathtaking. It could have been written yesterday for today. It was crystal clear that women are equal in spirituality, worth and education".
Eventually she embraced Islam. she said, "I have joined what I consider to be the biggest and best family in the world. When we stick together we are absolutely invincible."
Yvonne was brought up as a Protestant in Stanley, sang in the church choir, and was the Sunday school teacher in her village.
What do her Church of England parents in County Durham make of her new family?
"Initially the reaction of my family and friends was one of horror, but now they can all see how much happier, healthier and fulfilled I am.
"And my mother is delighted I've stopped drinking."
When asked what does she feel about the place of women in Islam, she said, "There are oppressed women in Muslim countries, but I can take you up the side streets of Tyneside and show you oppressed women there.
"Oppression is cultural, it is not Islamic. The Quran makes it crystal clear that women are equal."
And her new Muslim dress is empowering, she says.
"How liberating is it to be judged for your mind and not the size of your bust or length of your legs."
She wrote an article "How I came to love the veil". You can read it at this link of her official site :
Please listen to her interview at this link -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFZrSPUoH3I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFZrSPUoH3I
NOW PLEASE GIVE A THOUGHT - HOW COULD THESE TALIBAN ATTACKED A YOUNG MUSLIM GIRL 'MALAALA' , WHILE THEY COULD TREAT A NON-MUSLIM WOMAN WITH RESPECT ? That too they arrested on suspicion of spying.
HOW FAR THIS MEDIA IS TELLING THE TRUTH ?????
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